Care in the Beginning:

What lies still is easy to grasp;
What lies far off is easy to anticipate;
What is brittle is easy to shatter;
What is small is easy to scatter.

Therefore deal with things before they happen;
Create order before there is confusion.

A tree broader than a man's embrace is springs up from a tiny shoot;
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles starts under one's feet.


Care at the End:

He who disturbs the Nature, harms;
He who grasps, loses;
Mankind twisted the Way of Nature and calls it “ Progress”;
Once started, there is no end.
Man often fail on the verge of success;
Take care at the end as at the beginning,
So that you may avoid failure.

Therefore the Wise seeks freedom from desire,
He does not collect precious things.
He learns not to hold on to ideas.
He would help all people re-become natural,
But he refrains from action.


The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu